Hamilton Scholars Mentoring Program Aims to Enhance Study Abroad Experiences

The Alexander Hamilton Scholars Program – a dual degree partnership between NC State’s Poole College of Management and College of Humanities and Social Sciences – includes a mentor program that helps to connect students from different cultures and allows them to share experiences.

Each semester of the academic year, Hamilton Scholars share their time and experience with foreign students who have come to NC State University for their study abroad experience, helping them to integrate more naturally into the American culture.The Hamilton Scholars served as mentors to 23 international students at NC State in fall 2010 and 13 are serving as mentors in spring 2011, said Michelle Koehler, undergraduate academic advisor at the Poole College of Management.

“Students usually come from several different countries,” Koehler said. This spring, there are four students from Australia, three from France, two from Mexico, and one student from each Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and Fiji. The students are paired with their Hamilton Scholar mentors based on common majors and interests, she said.

The international students get introduced to their mentors during a “meet and greet” at the start of the each semester. Mentors then are available to their mentees throughout the semester for questions. They also invite their mentees to the Hamilton Scholars’ events. Last fall (’10) Hamilton Scholars hosted a Taste of Carolina – a private tour of selected Raleigh restaurants. Previously, the students attended an NC State baseball game and tailgate.

The more activities that the students and mentors participate in together, the more rewarding experience both have from the Hamilton Scholars Mentor Program, Koehler said. The mentoring program has also opened doors for Hamilton Scholars to participate in a double-exchange with their mentees.

For example, Paula Sujkowski, former mentor to French student Nicolas Huver, is currently studying abroad in Lille, France. Although she is not studying at Huver’s home university, Huyer has been able to reciprocate guidance he received while at NC State and has helped Sujkowski bridge the cultural gap while studying in Lille.

p. About 20 Hamilton Scholars are now volunteering to mentor students each semester. Chris Prosser, Hamilton Scholars’ vice president, has participated several times in the program and is currently mentoring Nikolai Senst, a student from Germany.

Koelher said the mentoring program “was such a positive experience they (Hamilton Scholars) are wanting to do it again.”

Discovering foreign culture from various perspectives is particularly important for students who are focusing on international business, she said. The Hamilton Scholars Mentor Program “allows foreign study abroad students as well as Hamilton Scholars to further connect with the Poole College of Management and share interpersonal experiences,” Koehler said.

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International students and Hamilton Scholars got together at a ‘meet and greet’ in early January 2011, at the start of the spring semester at NC State.

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